Management Primer: A Guide To Basic Management Concepts.
Alan L. Joplin, B.A., M.A., M.A.T., M.S.
Managers must base their decisions on comprehensive
organizational goals and objectives. The decisions
made and their rationale should be important to the
entire management team; therefore, it is essential
that the manager understands the point of view and
attitudes of others.
Mutual understanding will lead to organizational growth.
If any members of the management team does not understand
the significance of a decision as it relates to policies,
objectives and strategies, etc., then there is a high
probability of a weakening of the infrastructure of
the organization. The lack of understanding is not
always a result of poor communication. It can also
result in part from not knowing that a different point
of view exists. This situation implies that little
team activity exists. At this point a definition for
decision making should be formulated. One simple definition:
Decision making is the process of choosing a specific
course of action from among many alternatives and determining
ways and means (problem solving) for accomplishing
the course of action decided.
The most common method of problem solving is known as
the scientific method. It is a means of bringing order
to the solution of a problem. Here are two approaches,
both using the scientific method: one complex, for
complex problems, the other simple for simple problems.
The more complex one follows. It is difficult to set
up a standard procedure of analysis that will be suitable
for every problem. A checklist of things to look for
can be helpful, and a series of questions can also
be used as a reminder of areas to investigate.
Questions for consideration:
1. Have all critical factors been evaluated?
2. Are all requirements of the individual and the
group being met?
3. Is the leadership and organization adequate to maintain
control and to carry out plans and strategy?
4. How are the activities to be governed?
5. How does the organization propose to meet objectives?
6. Why does the organization exist?
7. What are the critical factors?
8.Will the decision cause the furtherance of the objectives?
In very complex problems, all of the critical factors
would be involved; it would be necessary therefore
to include them when the diagnosis is
How are the activities to be governed?
The analysis begins with sizing up and continues on
to objectives, policy, and ending with decision making.
A center is critical or not depending upon the scope
of the problem and its relationship to the other diagnostic
centers; that relationship being indicated by the connections
or paths between them.
This is an approach to analysis which has some flexibility,
an analytical framework, a way of thinking about the
relationships between the various factors that bear
upon the success of the organization.
1. SIZING-UP: As one sets out on the diagnostic cycle,
you should size up the situation first by deciding
what areas are to be analyzed and in what order. Analysis
centers that seem to be critical should be identified
at the beginning. This is the preliminary determination
of procedure that can be altered as the analysis
proceeds. The purpose of selecting diagnostic centers
is to aid in gaining an overview of the total situation
and in deciding what approach to take so that problems
can be pin pointed and resolved efficiently.
In this process it is important to understand that some
problems require a complete examination of every factor
and, therefore, need to be subjected to the complete
diagnostic cycle, while others are only concerned with
part of the diagnostic process. Less critical centers
are passed, and only the critical centers such as Leadership,
Organization, and Interpersonal Behavior, which are
essential to the decisions, are included. On the other
hand, in a problem on control it may be found that
the factors have important implications in the area
of objectives, policy, planning and strategy. Here
the diagnostic path would not include leadership, organization
and interpersonal behavior. In this phase, there is
an examination of the evidence so that the relationship
of facts may be determined, some pre judgments on possible
cause and effect situations may be made, and decisions
on what additional information or facts would facilitate
the decision-making process may be made. Which of the
diagnostic centers should be considered first? Sizing-up
is the initial move to determine the answers.
2. OBJECTIVES: Why does the organization exist?
What are the objectives of the organization?
Is there a general recognition of, or agreement on,
the organizational objectives? Should the objectives
be adjusted or changed? Is the organization now embarked
upon a course of action that will meet the objectives?
The objectives of an organization must be defined in
workable or useful terms so that they can be related
to decisions. Broad definition can be somewhat useful.
More helpful, however, is the definition of objectives
in specific terms inclusive of services, quality and
the like. Thus if the original question, "Why
does the organization exist?" is repeated, the
specific answer is, "To offer a unique type of
service." Objectives are not sacred; they can
be flexible to meet the dynamics of the organizational
environment.
3. POLICY FORMATION - PLANNING STRATEGY: Part of the
diagnostic technique is to determine whether fundamental
policies are involved--whether the present policy is
adequate or appropriate or whether a formal policy
exists at all. Policy, in fact, should be consistent
with the objectives.
1.They establish the general ground rules for meeting
the objectives.
2. They should be related to the objectives.
3. They should not be formulated in a vacuum.
4.They should not be altered without determination of
the effects upon the objectives.
5.If the objectives are changed, then the policy should
be reviewed.
6.The interrelationships between objectives and policy
are direct and critical.
7.When policy and objectives are at odds, the true desires
of the organization are not represented.
Once objectives are confirmed and compatible policies
established, the organization is ready to examine the
planning and strategy used to carry out the policies.
1. How does management propose to meet the objectives?
2. What is the strategy to be used?
3.What plans are being made to effectively use
organizational resources?
Strategy is dependent on available resources and is
controlled by the manager. Planning is the determination
of how best to carry out the strategy.
4. CONTROL COMMUNICATION: The control and communication
networks of an organization are as the nerves to the
human body.
Attempt to answer the following:
1. How are the activities of the organization to be
governed?
2. What techniques and devices have been established
so that the manager will know what is going on in the
organization?
The following situations can be apparent:
1.In some situations, management is oblivious to the
need for
control and communication.
2.In some instances, management may assume that controls
or communications are operating when actually they are
not.
3.Finally, the controls may be so confining that the
plans and
strategies cannot be effected.
The communications aspects are elusive and more difficult
to evaluate even though they are an integral part of
the control system within an organization.
Types of Communication (The Network):
1. Reports, written memoranda, official notices.
2.Informal conversations, the grapevine. (more effective
in control systems than written word).
3. Wordless action, feedback, lack of communication,
action operational.
4. Evaluate the financial resources and cost.
CONSIDER THE HUMAN FACTOR WHEN RECOMMENDING CHANGES.
Other areas for consideration will surface. Each
area must be related to the other, with a continual
assessment of the best combination. The decision must
finally be made based on the various possibilities
that have been developed in the analysis. The decision-making
process is sometimes described in terms of models that
contain inputs, variables, and outputs.
This means that the results or outputs of a decision
are not always predicted; they will vary from what
is anticipated because of the variables. Once the decision
has been made, one should size up the situation again
to make certain that vital information has not been
omitted. However, changing variables may be the problem
that demands a management decision, at which point
the whole or a part of the diagnostic procedure should
be repeated.
The more simple approach, which incorporates much of
the information in the more complex approach, has four
basic steps.
The basic steps are:
1. Locate and define the problem.
2. Formulate hypotheses.
3. Classify, collect and analyze data.
4. Draw a conclusion.
When a new system or procedure is introduced without
explanation, the action may be interpreted by employees
based on their personal frames of reference; and the
manager is subject to base decisions or misinterpreted
communications. The controls and communications involved
should be examined to determine their adequacy and
to see if they are appropriate.
Appropriateness is determined by:
1. The controls aiding in carrying out the plans and
strategies.
2.Their suitableness for the existing organization and
leadership.
5. LEADERSHIP - ORGANIZATION: Are the leadership and
organization adequate to maintain control to carry
out the plans and strategy? Control and communication
are so closely integrated that there may be difficulty
in deciding which center should be diagnosed first.
It could be that it is futile to investigate controls
and communications without relating them to the organization.
Under consideration are:
1. Line-staff relationships.
2. Informal organization arrangements.
3. Spans of control.
4. Centralization versus decentralization.
5. Delegation of responsibility.
6. Authority.
7. Democratic versus autocratic leadership.
8. Other aspects of organization and leadership.
Significant to the process are the following questions:
1.Is the organization structure best for the types of
controls desired?
2.Are communications facilitated or restricted by the
structure?
3.Are the controls established mainly in the chief executive
officer's hands?
4. Are there regulatory devices all through the organization?
6. INTERPERSONAL BEHAVIOR: Here a diagnosis of the
human element is carried on. Established by people
and operated by people, these factors are the least
predictable and spell the difference between success
or failure of an organization. The human element affects
the decisions. In the area of human behavior, the
logical decision may be the incorrect decision; this
is the case when one makes decisions that involve the
human factor.
7. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SETTING: The external environment--those
things outside the organization setting--is an integral
and important part of the analysis.
Environment inclusions:
1. Legal requirements as established by laws.
2. Social mores of society.
3. Economic conditions.
The external environment surrounds the organization,
and since the organization is dependent on society,
it must continuously refer to the outside world. The
social and economic setting constitute an eighth critical
center. As the analysis is done, one finds paths leading
out to the center--continuous deviations from the internal
diagnostic cycle to the external critical center.
As shown in Figure 3, Critical Diagnostic Centers
and Paths affects the various critical
center.
The objectives should be compatible with the external
environment. It is critical to check on the outside
forces. Direct attention from each specific diagnostic
center looks outside for conditions and situations
in the environment that affect the ultimate decision.
8. DECISION MAKING: When making an analysis, one should
keep the outcome in mind--a recommendation for action.
The analyzer should pause at each critical center
to see if there are facts and other information that
will aid in making the decision. The analysis process
includes asking the appropriate questions as seen on
the diagnostic diagram.
In addition related factors should be examined.
1.Assess risks involved in one course of action as compared
with another.
2. Predict obstacles to making the various plans.
Locate and Define the Problem
a need or difficulty that someone observes as experience,
and often this need or difficulty is experienced in
attempts to solve other problems. The problem must
be defined and located.
Formulate Hypotheses
to a problem. They give a sense of direction in an
attempt to solve the problem. In many instances, one
hypothesis will be substituted for another.
Collect, Classify and Analyze Data
study depends upon the effectiveness and objectivity
with which data are collected, classified, and analyzed.
When data have been classified, it must be analyzed
and interpreted to determine whether it substantiates
or refutes the hypothesis. If it does not, then the
hypothesis must be discarded and another formulated.
The collection of additional data must be undertaken
in an effort to see if the rejection of the hypothesis
is truly the proper course of action.
Draw Conclusion
of a problem. The critical element is the stating
of the conclusion which agrees with the data. This
step also requires considerable examination and study.
CRITICAL INCIDENT ANALYSIS STEPS
Step I:Clearly and completely identify the current issues,
problems, or questions.
Step II: List all the facts/information pertinent to
each of the above.
Step III:List the critical problem, issue, or question
demanding immediate attention.
Step IV:List the alternative courses of action and the
advantages and disadvantages of each.
Alternative A:
Alternative B:
Alternative C:
Step V:Draw conclusions, make recommendations/decisions
(justify your position).
Step VI:What is the fundamental management problem,
issue, or question underlying the current problem?
